Immortality
Immortality is something humans have thought about for almost as long as there has been man. When we are young, we feel as if we are indeed immortal, though the facts show otherwise. This proves real immortality is not just a state of mind. But does it disprove immortality?
This is a mental exercise and has nothing to do with religious beliefs or doctrine, so set them aside for awhile. Come along with me on a ride to the “what if” region of the mind, it’s a short trip. This is a wild region of the mind, filled with fantasy and flight of fancy, so you never know just what can be found there. We all end up here on occasion; sometimes it is only to daydream, others live there a good portion of their life. So fasten your seatbelt, it could get bumpy.
Looking back over time, there are many myths and legends pertaining to immortal beings. As science has shown, many legends/ myths have a basis in fact of one kind or another. Are immortals one of them?
Just look at the gods of the ancient Greeks. They lived lives filled with intrigue and fraught with human weakness, yet they lived for a long, long time. Though they lived for eons, death still became their ultimate companion. Could they, in fact, be based on a group of people with just such a long life span?
The idea of a group of people with extremely long life spans is not as far fetched as you might think. And to primitive civilization these people could seem godlike or immortal.
To put it another way, compare the life span of your pet dog or cat. To them we may seem to have those same qualities, yet it is nothing more than our natural life expectancy. So, to them, we are super beings. Yet we set aside time to interact with them while still living our daily lives in the bigger world. Was this the case with the Greeks and their pantheon?
If you were given a puppy when you were born, by the time you became a teenager that dog would be dead, at least most of the time, depending on the breed. If that same dog had a puppy, it would grow old and die by the time you had a family of your own. Then again another puppy, from the same line, would be gone by the time your children are in their teens. In short, you could go through five (5) to six (6) generations, if not more, before you died. Add to that, we control many tools the dog doesn’t understand making it even more impressive. Is it any wonder they look up to us for care and their wellbeing?
If that example is not impressive enough, think about the simple fruit fly. They live a long and fulfilling life of about a week, barring any unforeseen swatter. Just how many generations will live and die compared to our, much longer life? If they have the mental power to think about it, what would they think?
If our meager life span of, say a hundred year, was equal to that of a fruit fly’s week. And if another species of humans had a life span as is compared to our, then they would seem to live over 300,000 years to us. Then, if you facture in the technologies they could control, they would indeed seem godlike to us and immortal.
I am not implying we are either dogs or fruit flies, but the comparison boggles the mind. Could all the mythologies of the Greeks be based on a plumber or electrician and his family? Or maybe something out of a sitcom? Could it be that our universe is the home to a family of these individuals who work and play in another area? What if our world is nothing more than a square foot in their back yard? What if they only go to that part of their yard once in awhile? An afternoon’s play could be generations to us. Then off they go, only to show up eons later.
As I said to start, this is nothing more than a mental exercise. It is merely something coming from the unknown “what if” region of my brain. Could there be a civilization with a mythology based on you or your family? If there is, wouldn’t it be better for you to behave and not fly off the handle in a petty dispute? Imagine sitting on Mount Olympus, or your back yard, with a short lived, primitive civilization watching you. How confused are they by your actions? Would they see thunderous wars or catastrophic events under your grill? What of the water balloon fights or your children at play? Could a simple task like mowing the grass create ponderous events to them? Strange are the actions of the unknown.
Alright, it is now time to return to our world. It was a short trip to the “what if”. It was fun and we should do it more often. Many great ideas come from there and many silly ideas also. A short visit can relieve stress or give you an idea which could change the future. All ideas begin in the “what if” region of you mind, long before they are in the “why not”. Think about it.
The universe is neither larger nor smaller than we believe, for we have no idea! What we think we know is nothing to what we can not comprehend.
Ed Williams
©
This is a mental exercise and has nothing to do with religious beliefs or doctrine, so set them aside for awhile. Come along with me on a ride to the “what if” region of the mind, it’s a short trip. This is a wild region of the mind, filled with fantasy and flight of fancy, so you never know just what can be found there. We all end up here on occasion; sometimes it is only to daydream, others live there a good portion of their life. So fasten your seatbelt, it could get bumpy.
Looking back over time, there are many myths and legends pertaining to immortal beings. As science has shown, many legends/ myths have a basis in fact of one kind or another. Are immortals one of them?
Just look at the gods of the ancient Greeks. They lived lives filled with intrigue and fraught with human weakness, yet they lived for a long, long time. Though they lived for eons, death still became their ultimate companion. Could they, in fact, be based on a group of people with just such a long life span?
The idea of a group of people with extremely long life spans is not as far fetched as you might think. And to primitive civilization these people could seem godlike or immortal.
To put it another way, compare the life span of your pet dog or cat. To them we may seem to have those same qualities, yet it is nothing more than our natural life expectancy. So, to them, we are super beings. Yet we set aside time to interact with them while still living our daily lives in the bigger world. Was this the case with the Greeks and their pantheon?
If you were given a puppy when you were born, by the time you became a teenager that dog would be dead, at least most of the time, depending on the breed. If that same dog had a puppy, it would grow old and die by the time you had a family of your own. Then again another puppy, from the same line, would be gone by the time your children are in their teens. In short, you could go through five (5) to six (6) generations, if not more, before you died. Add to that, we control many tools the dog doesn’t understand making it even more impressive. Is it any wonder they look up to us for care and their wellbeing?
If that example is not impressive enough, think about the simple fruit fly. They live a long and fulfilling life of about a week, barring any unforeseen swatter. Just how many generations will live and die compared to our, much longer life? If they have the mental power to think about it, what would they think?
If our meager life span of, say a hundred year, was equal to that of a fruit fly’s week. And if another species of humans had a life span as is compared to our, then they would seem to live over 300,000 years to us. Then, if you facture in the technologies they could control, they would indeed seem godlike to us and immortal.
I am not implying we are either dogs or fruit flies, but the comparison boggles the mind. Could all the mythologies of the Greeks be based on a plumber or electrician and his family? Or maybe something out of a sitcom? Could it be that our universe is the home to a family of these individuals who work and play in another area? What if our world is nothing more than a square foot in their back yard? What if they only go to that part of their yard once in awhile? An afternoon’s play could be generations to us. Then off they go, only to show up eons later.
As I said to start, this is nothing more than a mental exercise. It is merely something coming from the unknown “what if” region of my brain. Could there be a civilization with a mythology based on you or your family? If there is, wouldn’t it be better for you to behave and not fly off the handle in a petty dispute? Imagine sitting on Mount Olympus, or your back yard, with a short lived, primitive civilization watching you. How confused are they by your actions? Would they see thunderous wars or catastrophic events under your grill? What of the water balloon fights or your children at play? Could a simple task like mowing the grass create ponderous events to them? Strange are the actions of the unknown.
Alright, it is now time to return to our world. It was a short trip to the “what if”. It was fun and we should do it more often. Many great ideas come from there and many silly ideas also. A short visit can relieve stress or give you an idea which could change the future. All ideas begin in the “what if” region of you mind, long before they are in the “why not”. Think about it.
The universe is neither larger nor smaller than we believe, for we have no idea! What we think we know is nothing to what we can not comprehend.
Ed Williams
©
posted by Ed | 17:07
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home